David Fought Goliath With One Of The Most Powerful Weapons Of The Ancient World
He came armed with something stronger than faith
The Wall Street Journal recently published an article about a new weapon being used by the Ukrainians. So far, it’s been devastating. It may even alter the way future wars are fought.
According to authors Stephen Kalin and Daniel Michaels, the M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS):
“Has a unique combination of range, precision and mobility that allows them to do the job traditionally handled by dozens of launchers firing thousands of shells.”
Kalin and Michaels give sixteen of these mobile missile trucks credit for helping bog down recent Russian attacks and turn the tide of the war. They fire farther, quicker, and more accurately. Obviously, a great advantage.
But this is nothing new. Throughout mankind’s history, “farther, quicker, and more accurate” has changed the course of struggles, and even made us the dominant species on the planet.
In his book The Ape That Understood he Universe, Steve Steward-Williams calls humans the “throwing ape,” claiming the ability to throw projectiles separates us from primates. Similarly, Stacy Morford at The Conversation says:
“Humans are the only species that can throw well enough to kill rivals and prey. Because throwing requires the highly coordinated and extraordinarily rapid movements of multiple body parts, there was likely a long history of selection favoring the evolution of expert throwing in our ancestors.”
Like the HIMARS of today, mankind of yesterday developed an ultimate weapon. Although it may look like a toy to you. It turned a simple human throwing arm into a devastating killing device for hunting and war.
The tool was easy to make, and ammunition could be found anywhere.
Yet it was so powerful, cultures far removed from each other adopted it. The technology even takes a prime part in one of the most famous stories within the Bible.
A shepherd boy named David carries it to battle versus the massive Philistine soldier Goliath. But our ideas of the story are skewed. You truly can’t understand the tale, until you understand the shepherd’s weapon.
The Power To Kill Fierce Predators And Giants
“David presented himself to the dubious king. David was still young. Yet Goliath had been a man of war from his youth. David offered as his credentials a tale of how he had killed both a lion and a bear, who were after his lambs.”
— Strategy, Lawrence Freedman
In his appropriately titled book Strategy, historian Lawrence Freedman examines the use of strategy throughout human history. Oddly, one of his first stops is the Bible. In particular, he looks at the story of David and Goliath more as a tale of tactics.
The nation of Israel with its new king faced an enemy army of Philistines, and their champion Goliath. This giant issued a challenge. But none of the Israelites, including their king would accept. It was a morale killer.
But a boy bringing supplies stepped forward. Popular wisdom expected this child, named David, to be crushed and this sentiment only increased when he turned down the offer of the king’s armor.
But David didn’t need it. He had a sling, which gave him the benefit of range and accuracy like the HIMARS. Freedman notes the boy landed a stone into Goliath’s forehead, which penetrated his skin, putting him down.
If the sling could kill a lion or bear, why not a human? In fact, the Pharaoh Tutankhamen thought slings were so valuable, he was buried with a few in his tomb to bring into the afterlife.
Likewise, the ancient Greek General Xenophon explained in his work Anabasis, how his army was helpless against harassment from Persian slings due to their distance and accuracy. He made it a point to hire slingers as a countermeasure.
Alexander the Great used Xenophon’s book as a guide in his invasion of Persia. As you might imagine, slingers were part of his army too. In fact, lead sling bullets were found in Thrace (Bulgaria) with Alexander and his father Phillip’s named etched into them.
But leave it to the Romans to put the power of the sling into a context we can truly understand today.
A Roman Weapon Of Terror
“Soldiers, notwithstanding their defensive armor, are often more annoyed by the round stones from the sling than by all the arrows of the enemy. Stones kill without mangling the body, and the contusion is mortal without loss of blood. It is universally known the ancients employed slingers in all their engagements. There is the greater reason for instructing all troops, without exception, in this exercise, as the sling cannot be reckoned any incumbrance, and often is of the greatest service…”
— De Re Militari Book I, Publius Vegetius Renatus, known as Vegetius
Dr. John Reid, a researcher at the Trimontium Trust, knows the power of slings very well. He learned first-hand at an excavation site. It was the location of a Roman siege of a fort in Scotland, north of Hadrian’s Wall, occupied by a hostile tribe.
On a hunch, they ran metal detectors over the site. They got almost three-thousand hits, so dug a few pits to investigate. According to Heather Pringle at National Geographic, Reid and his team pulled up four-hundred Roman sling bullets made of lead. But they believe most of the hits were bullets.
So, the Romans blasted the enemy camp with thousands of rounds.
Reid explains a Roman sling was accurate within about a hundred yards and had close to the stopping power of a .44 magnum handgun. But the sling also had a psychological purpose.
The team found many bullets with holes purposely drilled in them. They think they were for sound. Reid’s team believes these bullets made “a weird banshee-like wail,” causing fear in the enemy.
Think about it. Your friends are falling around you, while a high-pitched scream echoes in from over the walls. Reid calls the sling bullets “terror weapons.” In fact, he believes none of the inhabitants of the Scottish fort made it out alive.
Virgil in the Aeneid also mentions, “Heated lead half melted as it flew,” so there’s a possibility the Romans might have even cooked bullets before they flung them. Talk about terror. That’s your child’s toy in action, right there.
Now, with this knowledge, let’s circle back to the story of David.
You’re Not An Underdog With The Right Tool
Most of us learned the story of David versus Goliath as a child. For the religious, it teaches the power of God is the ultimate equalizer versus all things. For the non-religious, it’s inspiration for the underdog.
Yet, when you take a strategic view with history in the background, the story changes dramatically. The shepherd isn’t exactly an underdog. He may be blessed by a higher power, but pragmatically carries the conventional strength of “farther, quicker, and more accurate.”
In other words, Goliath brought a sword to the fight, while David came equipped with HIMARS — one of the most powerful weapons of the ancient world.
The sling wasn’t a child’s toy. It was carried by Egyptian pharaohs, Greek mercenaries, Alexander the Great’s army, and fierce Roman legions. It waylaid lions, bears, giants, and armies.
With this in mind, perhaps the modern lesson of David versus Goliath is you’re never an underdog with the right tools and training.
Originally posted on Medium 10/16/22